Bhubaneswar: The State Assembly was adjourned for the second day running as both the opposition and ruling party members created a ruckus over farmers’ issues Wednesday. The house could not run for even 30 minutes in the entire day.
As soon as the proceedings started, the Congress and BJP members went near the podium of the Speaker shouting slogans on farmers’ plight while the ruling party members raised slogans standing at their seats demanding a hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy.
While the Congress members were seen wearing gowns imprinted with texts of slogans, BJP legislators protested holding thermocol replicas of pesticides. Speaker Pradip Amat adjourned the house till 3 pm.
After the house got adjourned, the BJD members marched to Raj Bhawan. They submitted a memorandum, addressed to the President, to Governor SC Jamir seeking a hike in paddy MSP by the Centre.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to hike the MSP on paddy by 1.5 times of the production cost. But, the Central government has not executed it so far,” finance minister Sashibhusan Behera said.
“Even through the State Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution to hike paddy MSP to Rs 2,930 per quintal, the PM is not giving us time for an appointment. We will take the protests to streets, if the Centre does not meet our demand,” food supplies and consumer welfare minister Surya Narayan Patro said.
BJP MLA Pradip Purohit said the state government is not concerned about the agony of farmers. “While farmers are in miserable situation following drought, pest attack and unseasonal rain, the state government did not announce bonus on paddy. The government is not ready to accept the suicide of farmers due to crop loss. The ruling party is creating a drama in the house,” said the BJP member.
Opposition chief whip Taraprasad Bahinipati said the ruling party members don’t want to run the house. “We are ready for a discussion on farmers’ issues in the floor of the house. However, they marched to Raj Bhawan,” he said.
Leader of Opposition Narasingh Mishra said the BJD and the BJP were shedding crocodile tears over farmer issues. He wrote a letter to Speaker Pradeep Amat for conveying an all-party meeting.
In his letter Mishra said he was not allowed to have his say inside the house. “The motion on the farmers’ issues or the adjournment motion was not allowed to be discussed as a result of which valuable time of the house was wasted,” he said.
Though the house again assembled at 3 pm, it could not last for half an hour as the opposition Congress and BJP members staged a walkout. After notifications and resolutions were laid down, the house was adjourned till Thursday.
PNN